The second most important evangelistic habit

How are you going?  Can you remember the most important evangelistic habit? 

Yes, it is love.  How are you going with letting people know you love them by your attitude and actions? 

I’m growing in that habit.  I hope you are too.

The second most important habit I learnt while I was part of a medical team in Baguio, Philippines.  

We set up a temporary medical clinic in one of the poorer neighbourhoods.  The doctor brought the medicines needed for the day in her car as far as the road would allow.   It was my job to carry the medicines up the hill to the clinic. The hill was steep and I was often tired when I got to the top.

One morning I arrived at the doctor’s car late.  Very late.  For some unknown reason I had the hardest time getting any of the jeepneys to stop and give me a ride.

Seeing no one there, I climbed the hill to the clinic.

As I entered the room the atmosphere was fridged.  I could sense immediately that the doctor was livid about my lateness.

She is a much smaller person than me and if I had trouble carrying the supplies, she would have twice as much trouble.

No one said anything about my lateness.  There were patients in the room and so we all pretended that everything was fine.  

We still asked patients to tell us what their problems were. The doctor examined and gave a plan for treatment;  We gave medicine.  We shared the Gospel.  But the joy was gone.

Finally at noon the director shut the clinic so that the doctor and I could talk.  It was not an easy conversation. But a necessary one.  And then we prayed together, asking God for forgiveness for our attitudes and not dealing with this problem quicker.

When we opened the clinic after lunch the atmosphere was so different.  The patients could feel our joy and we shared the Gospel with power.

What did I learn from this?

The importance of being in right relationship with the rest of your team.

Jesus said, “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23-24).

We are engaged in spiritual warfare and the devil is going to take his best shot right before we to talk with others about Jesus.  He hit us hard yesterday right before my wife and I were about to drop by two houses in our neighbourhood.  This time I remembered to deal with the issues between us BEFORE we went to talk with others.

Let’s pray:

“Lord Jesus, thank you for forgiving us our sins.  We need the power of your Holy Spirit to forgive those who have sinned against us.  Remind us of our need to deal with sin promptly.  Empower us to build strong positive relationships with the people who are in our family our church and ministry teams.  Thank you for entrusting us with the task of being your ambassadors in our community.  Amen”.

Next week a lesson from a clothing store in San Francisco.

Have a great week helping people connect with Jesus and other believers.